On Sunday, barely two weeks later, National Security Adviser John Bolton said there is no timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. During a visit to Israel, Bolton said the U.S. wouldn’t pull troops out until ISIS had been fully defeated, and after the U.S. had reached an agreement with Turkey to protect members of the Kurdish militia who are fighting alongside the U.S., the Associated Press reported.

“There are objectives that we want to accomplish that condition the withdrawal,” Bolton said in Jerusalem, according to the AP. “The timetable flows from the policy decisions that we need to implement.”

Bolton heads to Turkey on Monday to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who most likely convinced Trump during a phone call to withdraw troops in the first place.

Advertisement

According to The Washington Post, Trump initially had agreed to extend the 30-day schedule to four months, but that date is out the window now, too, according to White House aides.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, Trump told reporters on Sunday that he never claimed to be removing troops quickly from Syria. “We are pulling back in Syria. We’re going to be removing our troops. I never said we’re doing it that quickly, but we’re decimating ISIS,” Trump said.

Advertisement

Here’s the Dec. 19 video in which Trump said troops are coming home “now”: